3 Young players the Houston Rockets should develop, 2 to give up on

Tari Eason may be a great foundational piece as the Houston Rockets ascend

Tari Eason had himself a quality rookie-season for the Houston Rockets last year. He found his way onto the NBA's All-Rookie second team after averaging 9.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.

Much like his draft-classmate -- Jabari Smith Jr. -- Eason showed out in the NBA Summer League. In just two games, he averaged 23.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 blocks per contest.

Ben Sullivan, who was in charge of Houston's summer squad, had some strong words about Eason and his work ethic.

"Jabari and Tari were great leaders for us," Sullivan told The Athletic's Kelly Iko. "They worked hard, they tried to execute everything, they were unselfish, they competed, they guarded.

They did everything that we asked them to do and they did a pretty high level. And you can tell when it’s a second-year guy over a first-year guy (because) the concepts of what we’re trying to do and the NBA game isn’t entirely new to them.

So they’re able to pick up things a little bit quicker, able to do a little bit more on the fly. Definitely leaned on them to lead us in that way of what we were trying to do."

Eason is the type of player that is ready to fill a smaller role on a successful team. He doesn't need the ball all of the time in order to be effective, and can impact the game on both ends of the floor.

The 22-year-old could find himself playing a fair amount of minutes next season under new head coach Ime Udoka.